


It's Better Together

by MizuLeKitten



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura and Keith try on clothes, Bonding, Canon Compliant, F/M, Gen, Genderqueer Keith (Voltron), Light Angst, Sort Of, Trans Keith (Voltron), mentions of dysphoria, takes place somewhere in s1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 13:30:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,514
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17265065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizuLeKitten/pseuds/MizuLeKitten
Summary: Based off an idea I posted on tumblr/twitter"basically Keith goes to Allura like “I haven’t worn dresses in awhile, let’s go.” And he more or less goes through all the different fashions Allura has, and then they raid other parts of the castle for suits, and mixed outfits and the like. They put on fashion shows for the mice, neither of them remember when they felt this carefree or happy"Except with slightly more angst in it.





	It's Better Together

Keith knew he wasn’t good at relationships on any level. He was quiet, angry, reclusive -- a lone wolf. It was why he never got adopted after his father died (not that he wanted anyone to replace his pa) and it was why he never had good relations with his peers. He was simply... not meant for people. He constantly missed cues, references, everything. He couldn’t fault people for not liking him.

It was why he didn't really blame the others for, not excluding him exactly but, not going out of their way to spend time with him. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk were a great trio. They had enough connections that they drifted together easily. He was happy for them. He had Shiro anyways. But... Shiro had his own demons that he retreated from sometimes. Then there were the times he was pulled into something by Pidge since they knew each other, which then brought Lance and Hunk, and... Sometimes he joined. It was hard to keep up, though.

His eyes fell to the ground -- It had always been hard to keep up. In everything else he did, he excelled, but in relationships? He'd never be on par with everyone else.

It was okay, though! He was fine with wandering the castle when they all hung out. It was a big castle, and there was so much to see. He had never been in a place so big. Sure, the Garrison was big, huge even, but lots of places were off limits to cadets. Even with his delinquent streak, he had no real reason to go snooping. He had always enjoyed the vastness of the desert over the buildings there. The castle wasn't the same, though. Nothing was off limits, that he knew of. There was no one to look at him as if he was out of place.

There was no one to look at him period.

He bit his lip. It was actually... pretty lonely. Lone wolf, right? He shouldn't feel lonely. He was used to this. But the castle was so big, yet so empty. It was once filled with people, living, breathing people. He wasn’t sure if it was only Alteans, or if there were other races mixed in, but he knew that there were a lot of them. People to keep the castle running, diplomats, scientists, so many. There was no one now. That was, perhaps, the worst part about this loneliness. It was as if he could feel the residual people around him, rushing through the halls, late for meetings, laughing with one another. He could feel it all, yet none of it was real.

A door to his right opened, and he froze mid step. No one should be here, so why -- Allura stepped out of the room, a pile of clothes in her arms. She turned to walk down the hall, towards Keith, and paused. Her eyes lit up in surprise. The door slid closed.

"Keith!" her voice was pitched high, caught off guard by his presence.

His heart twinged at that -- was him being there that surprising? He mentally shook his head. It was nothing personal. They were pretty deep in the castle, away from any of the paladin's usual haunts. She hadn't expected to see anyone.

"Hey, Princess," he gave a small wave. "Sorry if I, uh, startled you."

"Startled? No! Not at all, I was simply-- You're very far from the others."

"They're..." hanging out, having fun, bonding, something he could try and take part in if he wasn't such a coward, "busy. Figured I'd explore, you know?" No. She didn't know. This was her castle. She  _ knew _ the castle layout. "So, uh, clothes."

Allura looked down at the clothes in her arms, "oh, yes. I have clothes. I was... I was collecting them, so that you all had something to change into until we are able to obtain supplies for the replicator. Yes."

Oh. That was... "That's a really good idea. Do you want help?" Helping the others by making sure everyone had clothes could be a nice contribution while they have fun.

"I'd hate to bother you with something so trivial," Allura smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

"It's not trivial." Clothing was important. Especially when they only have one set of clothing to wear. (Luckily, oh so luckily, the clothes he had with him accomplished two different looks in his mind. When days got bad, he could take off his jacket, or put it on. Instant switch in his mind. Sometimes. Hit or miss.)

Allura glanced away. "If you insist."

"I'm not doing anything," so why wouldn't he help?

Allura watched Keith a moment before walking forward, "more hands means less trips."

He followed behind her down the hall a ways before they stopped in front of another door. The room looked nothing like the rooms they've been living in. It was larger, spacious. The bed was at least a queen size, with a canopy and everything. There was a desk, closet, and trinkets scattered about. It looked lived in... if there wasn't a thick layer of dust. The air filtration system hadn't had time to get rid of it all, and Keith doubted the system ever would get rid of it all without the assistance of someone actually cleaning. It was another reminder of what was lost -- of what  _ Allura _ lost.

Allura didn't try to start a real conversation. She deposited the clothes she had already gathered on the bed, and went straight to the closet. He couldn't blame her for the silence -- she was rifling through the clothing of her people, pillaging their possessions for the paladins. He sort of knew the feeling; Shiro was wearing his father's jacket. Shiro had, at least, known how precious the jacket was to him, and how much giving it to him meant. That was only a jacket, Allura was raiding full closets.

"I should stop grabbing dresses, shouldn't I?" Allura's voice was soft, vulnerable, as she held up one such garment. It was white, exposing the shoulders, but crawled up the neck. Down the front was a soft purple. He knew enough about dresses, and from what he’d seen so far of Altean wear, to know that this was simply the under layer. In fact, he held up the top he had picked up. The same soft purple, cutting down in the front and back to form a v neck -- the sleeves were designed to fall off the shoulders, puffy and airy. Gold accents lined the top and bottom.

It wasn't a bad looking dress, honestly.

"Pidge had told me she preferred pants right now, and no one else seems comfortable in the skirts," she folded the material over her arm, "it seems silly to collect all of these dresses if I'm the only one who will wear them."

Keith frowned, rubbing his finger over the soft material. "You don't have to be."

Allura looked back towards him, "I'm not going to force you all to wear dresses."

"You had no problem cuffing us all together," Keith pointed out with a smile.

"That was for the sake of bonding," Allura stressed, lip jutting out in a pout. "This is... frivolous."

"I don't think it is," Keith said with a shrug, "dresses are cool. I had some back at the shack, but none of them were as fancy as these." They had all been sundresses or the sort. Nothing fancy due to the hot sun and little spending money.

"You wore them?" Allura had turned her body fully towards him, soaking up the information so openly. It was... off putting. No one listened to him like this besides Shiro.

"Yeah. They're comfy." He glanced away. Allura didn't seem to be put off by it, but... "sometimes," he toyed with the cloth in his hands, "sometimes I have to."

Allura's brows drew close, "what do you mean? Were you forced to back on Earth?"

"No, its- Its not like that. I-" he bit his lip, kicking at the ground. He knew that there was a lot of places on Earth that accepted people like him, but he never seemed to find them until Shiro; by then he'd grown so used to comforting himself in private that he hadn't ever taken the chance to find out if more people at the Garrison were tolerant. (He doubted they would be towards him. No one had liked him already, it'd simply be another reason not to.) "Mentally it, uh, it feels good? And- And wearing other things feels wrong. So I, uh, yeah. Wore them. Sometimes."

He knew it was giving into stereotypes: dresses for girls, pants for boys, but he couldn't-- there was no other way he had found that made him feel less wrong during those times than to indulge in the stereotypes. When being Keith, a guy, was too much, he’d indulge in free flowing skirts, or maybe leggings and a crop top. When not being a guy felt wrong, bundle up in jeans, t-shirts, leather jackets. Most of the time it was some weird middle ground, a mix between aesthetics and feelings. Not one way or another.

But sometimes he was pulled in obvious directions, and clothing had been an escape. It was why he had loved being in the shack (as much as it was also horrible due to the circumstances, due to Shiro being gone).  When he wasn't sure which way he was being pulled, he had the chance to experiment with it, and no one could judge him. On days where it was obvious what he wanted, he did so without fear.

All of his outfits were behind him now, left in the shack. He didn't have his dresses, his skirts, his jackets, or pants. He was lucky to have one of his mix outfits, but he knew it wasn't going to last. It already hadn't lasted. (Not even a few days prior his body had itched, uncomfortable in his skin and second skin. All he could do was train until his body burned for a different reason. He had accidentally missed a meal because of it.)

Allura watched him as he nervously fidgets. He never knew how to explain it -- even with Shiro it took several trial and errors to actually get his point across. When he glanced up, there was a surprising spark of understanding there.

"Do you feel that need now?" she stood and Keith couldn't stop the instinctive step back. "It's fine if you do not. There are plenty of options to mix and match for your mood. I had assumed humans were much more secular in their genders." She smiled, something sad tinting it, "alteans were not. We changed to fit our desires, whether they stayed constant or shifted from day to day. It was all personal."

"Oh." That was... actually comforting. "That's- Some humans are- are okay with it. Its... its complicated."

"I see. Know that I have plenty of clothes for you to look through," she holds the dress up as she tilted her head towards the pile. "I can't wear them all. And... it'd be an honor to help you pick."

His eyes fell down to the top in his hands. It wasn't a specific type of day, he felt neutral, but... "The dress you're, uh, holding looks- it looks pretty cool."

Allura beamed, as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. And maybe it had.

~*~

Time goes by very quickly after that. The dress had, surprisingly, fit like a glove. He guesses it shouldn't be so surprising since even the paladin armor was capable of changing for their body types. One dress led to another, and then a suit, and then the fun really began. Some of the combinations they tried looked simply ridiculous. Things that most certainly were never supposed to be paired together were, and not even Allura could pull off some of the looks. It became easy, talking to Allura, as if they'd been friends for years and not the few months they'd been in space.

At one point, the mice dropped in from the vents, landing on the plush bedding below. With an audience, their shenanigans only grew. Allura posed in her ridiculous outfit, and he watched as the mice squeaked over one another, laughing. Allura glanced his way, and he couldn't help but follow along. It only made the squeaking louder as they fell over due to the force of it. The mice seemed to think themselves fashionista's after that -- directing the different clothes to Keith and Allura. He watched as they argued, gesturing towards him and Allura, trying to decide who would wear something.

It was... fun.

He was having fun. The stifling atmosphere of the castle, the traces of people long gone, couldn't pierce here.

"I must admit," Allura said as they sat on the bed, watching the mice go through the outfits, "I may have deceived you when we first met in the hallway."

Keith looked over, brow raising as he waited for her to continue.

She chuckled, "I was looking through the clothes for myself. Everyone else was having fun, but I- It is hard to hear their laughter sometimes."

It’s hard knowing that everyone else seems happy when she had everything taken from her. He could understand it. He hadn't lived it like her, but his past had made the feeling of jealousy, envy, well known despite his own efforts to push it down. To stop being selfish.

"It was nice to share this time with you," she looked over at him, "I used to dress up with my- my friends quite often. It was nice to do so again."

Keith stared at her in confusion. Had she really-- Yeah. She had. Someone had fun with him. He beamed, unable to contain the joy the knowledge gave him, "yeah. I-- I had fun too. I wouldn't," he bit his lip, "I wouldn't mind doing this again."

"That would be- I'd like that."

The mice squeaked, holding up the sleeve of another top and motioning towards Allura. She laughed as she rose from the bed, ready to try it on.

One of the mice, the smallest, hopped onto his leg, looking up at him with big eyes. He lightly ran his finger between the mouse's ears. He could get used to this, to having someone to laugh with besides Shiro. It- It was nice not being the lone wolf.

Allura walked out of the bathroom, the top fitting her wonderfully. She looked good in blue. "The mice have an outfit for you picked out as well," she smiled.

Keith stood, scooping the mouse up in his hand and raising it to his shoulder. "Let's hope it looks as good as yours."

"They seem to be on a roll, but who knows," Allura took the mouse from his shoulder as he walked to where the others were holding up another shirt, "they like to have fun."

He picked up the top, looking back with a smile, "time to find out."

**Author's Note:**

> [The Post :3](https://mizulekitten.tumblr.com/post/181620518297)
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> You can find me at [MizuLeKitten on Tumblr](https://mizulekitten.tumblr.com/) or [MizuLeKitten/@le_mizu on Twitter](https://twitter.com/le_mizu)


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